MIAMI — Josh Richardson wanted to make a statement. So he took his braids off and let his afro out.

“I had to show a little bit of my soul tonight,” Richardson said with a laugh Monday about his new look. “I just took my braids off last night and I looked in the mirror and I had a huge afro. I was like, whatever I’ll wear it.”

Then Richardson made a statement on the court to finish with 21 points (8-of-17 shooting), four rebounds, two assists, three 3-pointers, two steals and two blocks in a 104-93 home win over Atlanta on Monday to set up a Wednesday showdown with the Spurs at AmericanAirlines Arena. It stands as Richardson’s best performance of the young season, as he was effective when it mattered most with a team-high eight points in the fourth quarter.

Miami Heat guard Josh Richardson looks for an open teammate during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets, Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, in Miami. The Heat defeated the Hornets 109-106. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Those numbers paired with a strong preseason and offseason was enough for coach Erik Spoelstra to pay Richardson the ultimate compliment.

“What didn’t J-Rich do tonight,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s win. “He was great defensively. Those are the type of plays at the rim we had a former two-guard here make, those kind of blocks. There’s just not many twos in the league that can make those kind of plays and then guard one through four. But stretch the floor for us, space the floor for us and then when needed in the fourth quarter he was very aggressive, being able to attack when their defense stepped up.”

Yes, by “former two-guard,” Spoelstra was referring to future Hall of Famer and Heat legend Dwyane Wade. The Wade comparison seems over the top for the 24-year-old Richardson, who is now in his third NBA season.

But look past the Wade comparison and look closer at Spoelstra’s statement, and you’ll notice the qualities listed make Richardson a unique player who has plenty of untapped potential.

“J-Rich gets it done on the offensive end and especially on the defensive end,” Heat guard Wayne Ellington said. “He shoots for us. He’s a leader out there on the floor. His game is evolving. He’s getting better every day. He’s becoming the type of player that he’s capable of being. When coach [compares him to Wade], I understand why he’s saying that. To see his progress from last year to this year and see how he’s maturing, I feel like the sky is the limit for that guy.”

Through three games this season, Richardson is averaging 14.3 points on 47.1 percent shooting to go with 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists and 1.3 blocks. Another impressive stat — he’s a team-best plus-17 when on the court.

Richardson has started every game for Miami at small forward and has been an efficient finisher around the basket, making 6-of-8 shot attempts (75 percent) from within five feet of the rim. That’s a small sample size, but it’s a big improvement from last season when the 6-foot-6 Richardson made 42-of-72 shot attempts (58.3 percent) from within five feet of the basket.

Health is a big reason for the step forward he’s made in this area of his game.

“I feel athletic so I always want to take advantage,” said Richardson, who signed a four-year, $42 million extension with the Heat in September. “I want to dunk on everybody now.”

That wasn’t the case last season, as Richardson battled injury issues for most of the year. He missed 29 of the Heat’s first 57 games due to various injuries, including a partially torn MCL in his right knee and a sprained ankle.

“It feels awesome,” Richardson said of playing healthy. “That’s why I want to [dunk] so much now. I’ve been going so long not knowing if my leg is going to give out when I jump or if it’s going to hurt. Now I feel bouncy every time down the court. It’s awesome, so yeah I want to take advantage of that.”

And just 108 regular-season games into his NBA career, Richardson is still growing on and off the court. He’s played a team-high 110 minutes this season, which is 15 minutes more than second-place Goran Dragic.

“Josh has got more,” Dragic, who compared Richardson to Spurs All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard because of their versatile skill sets. “His rookie year, his main thing was to play defense and when he was open to shoot the ball. Now, of course, he has a bigger role on this team. He gets the ball in the fourth quarter. He needs to create. All these things. It’s not like he didn’t have them before, but now we’re seeing it. We need him to be like that. And he’s growing. He’s feeling more comfortable in that role and you can see he’s emerged.”

Emerging after a season full of frustration and injuries.

“There were some very low points last season,” Richardson said. “But I think it was all for the best. It made me mature a lot, so it makes me appreciate everything now.”